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Millcraft
Also known as Millcraft Industries =The Millcraft plan for Pittsburgh's Downtown.= Background * Millcraft Industries is making headway on a plan for downtown in May, 2006. * The make over of the Golden Triangle shopping district is bold. * The Washington County developer appears to be successfully transferring Mayor Bob O'Connor's vision into an exciting blueprint. But the fact that Millcraft says it will seek state help (i.e., taxpayer money) is not encouraging. Remember, this same company got a sweetheart, discount deal on the "old" Lazarus building. Insights * Do not place all of your money in one investment. Not only is placing all of your redevelopment eggs into a single developer's basket not wise, it runs counter to the concept of creating a truly eclectic Downtown that doesn't come from a central plan (no matter public or private) but from independent parcel development. Details Millcraft may get $11M in funding :Source: Pittsburgh Business Times - October, 2006 by Ben Semmes A spokesman for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Wednesday that Millcraft Industries Inc. could receive $11 million in state assistance for its redevelopment of the Fifth and Forbes corridor Downtown, with the possibility of more money in the future. In May, the Cecil Township-based company received approval to redevelop approximately 20 properties currently managed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Late Mayor Bob O'Connor said at the time that the project would receive no public subsidy, although he left open for discussion the selling price for the URA buildings. On Wednesday, Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for the governor, said that the $11 million, to be taken from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, could be just the beginning. "It is understood that the project is going to be done in phases over a significant period of time, so the money under discussion at this point is for the phase of the project that is being considered currently," he said. "The governor has made clear that he would look favorably upon future state investment." Jack Piatt, chairman of Millcraft Industries, said that his company had asked the governor for $18 million for a mixed-use conversion of the old G.C. Murphy store and a residential and retail project called Forbes Village. Piatt Place, a mixed use project in progress at the old Lazarus store, already received $3.75 million in state assistance. Piatt said that his company has asked for about $72 million for the entire Fifth and Forbes project. "I think total we asked for $72 million, but we will see what happens with that down the road," he said. "We are trying to make the numbers work." Ardo, the governor's spokesman, said that the governor was committed to investment in Pittsburgh's Downtown area. "The governor is firmly convinced that state investment in this project is critical to Pittsburgh, the revitalization of Pittsburgh's Downtown, and feels that investing in this kind of a project has been proven worthwhile in other projects around the state," he said. "I think that the Governor has got a great deal of confidence in Millcraft Industries' ability to see the project through to fruition. bsemmes@bizjournals.com | (412) 481-6397 x223 Links * Downtown * Gerald Shiller, property owner downtown who was not contaced about building in plans before reading about it in the papers. Media * Apartments, not condos, for G.C. Murphy site Struggling with economics of project, developer chooses rental units in plans to renovate old Market Square store, November 30, 2006, by Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Apartments are in, condos are out in a Washington County developer's latest plans for the reuse of the old G.C. Murphy store on Fifth Avenue, Downtown. Millcraft Industries now is looking to put upwards of 50 apartments in the old store with rents priced to attract Downtown workers earning $40,000 to $50,000 a year, Lucas Piatt, vice president of real estate, said yesterday. 'They will be some of the less expensive in town,' he said. * Tribune Review from May 27, 2006 * P-G from May 26, Millcraft expects state subsidization for downtown building